Cowes Week has new trophy to encourage international entries

Cowes Week has new trophy to encourage international entries

Cowes Week has a new team trophy this year, designed to encourage more international team entries. Photos: Paul Wyeth

THERE will be a new team trophy worth battling for in this year's Cowes Week.

Event organisers, Cowes Week Ltd, has made changes to its Inter-Club Team Trophy, now known as the Solent Team Trophy.

The change is a new entry criteria, designed to make it a more all-round competition across the 800-boat fleet —but more significantly, to encourage more international entries.

The Solent Team Trophy will be awarded to the top team of three boats — at least one of which must come from the Black Group and at least one from the White Group.

Challenges will be accepted from teams in the name of individual yacht clubs, where all three are from the same club, or from countries sailing under the national flags where a country has three boats in attendance, even if they are not from the same club.

In the fullness of time, Cowes Week Ltd hope this may become an international competition between countries, as much as it is between yacht clubs.

Entries for the new Solent Team Trophy can be made in the normal way, via the regatta website: www.cowesweek.co.uk

Defending champions, the Royal Thames Yacht Club, have won the previous Inter-Club Trophy the past two years.

The new trophy will be awarded at the Cowes Week prize giving ceremony on the evening of Friday, August 16 —just before the traditional grand firework display.

Laurence Mead, regatta director at Cowes Week Ltd, said: "I'm really pleased we are bringing back a distinctly international element to the regatta.

"Cowes Week was home to one of the world's major international team trophies, and it was always a huge highlight for me to watch the scoreboard being updated each evening.

"This friendly competition between clubs and nations will, I hope, go some way to bringing back those days and we look forward to building the competition, such that it becomes a respected and desired trophy to win for yacht clubs and countries worldwide."

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